Wall St. turns wrath, cash on Obama

NEW YORK — Profits and bonuses are down across Wall Street. Banks are slicing jobs and shuttering once profitable trading units in the face of new regulations.

But the financial services industry is poised to set records in one arena in 2012: politics.

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The beleaguered sector is pumping tens of millions of dollars into campaigns and newly dominant super PACS as one of Wall Street’s own seeks the White House and the industry looks to roll back key parts of the Dodd-Frank financial reforms. The goal is to oust a president and some members of Congress whom many bankers view as openly hostile toward them.

Employees of securities and investment firms have already given $52.8 million to candidates and party committees in the 2012 cycle, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. That makes it the No. 1 industry, up from fourth place in 2010 and third in the 2008 campaign.

Wall Street — the target of Occupy protests nationwide — has swung firmly back to the GOP in 2012 after supporting then-Sen. Barack Obama over Sen. John McCain in the 2008 campaign. Obama outraised McCain on Wall Street by nearly 2 to 1, $15.7 million to $9.2 million.

Despite a large overall fundraising advantage, Obama has raised just $5.1 million from the finance, insurance and real estate sectors so far this cycle compared with $12.4 million for Mitt Romney’s campaign, according to Sheila Krumholz, executive director of CRP.

“The financial industry overall, cycle after cycle, is always a No. 1 source of campaign funds. It is even more so in 2012. It is head and shoulders above any other industry,” Krumholz said. “And Romney has a large lead, which is extraordinary given that Obama has such a large lead in total receipts.”

Securities and investment firms are the top industry donors to the Republican Party so far this cycle, having given $12.4 million. The industry has given $10.3 million to the Democratic Party, second to $12.7 million from lawyers and law firms.

The gap for Romney, a former private-equity executive and founder of Bain Capital, is even larger when his super PAC — Restore our Future — is included. Restore our Future, which can raise unlimited sums from individuals and organizations, had hauled in $30.1 million by the end of last year.

By contrast, Priorities USA Action, the super PAC set up by Bill Burton and other former White House officials to support the Obama campaign had raised only about $4.4 million by the end of 2011. There were only a handful of big checks, including $2 million from DreamWorks mogul Jeffrey Katzenberg.